Is my view on forgiveness aspie-like?

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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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27 Jul 2017, 11:18 am

soloha wrote:
Forgiving but not forgetting seems perfectly logical to me.
All the same, it sets up a standard, with both aspects, that I can't possibly meet.

Yes, I probably will have revenge fantasies in the future. I prefer the zen approach of viewing it as an ocean wave which will rise but will also fall. If I get down on myself for merely having a revenge fantasy, it seems like that just makes the whole thing worse.

And as far as the 'not forgetting' part, it's like a health worry. With health worries, I had to give myself permission to potentially forget something which might be very important. So, with a person who has proved not very trustworthy, I mean, how much mental energy am I going to spend trying to hold this in my mind? And to complicate things, I'm a little in the direction of being 'face-blind' (prosopagnosia). So, if I'm going to get on with my life, which I very much want to do, I'm going to have to take the chance that I might forget something important. Maybe the first time someone lets me down, 80+ percent chance that I shy away on this topic area and protect myself. If they let me down a second time, 95+ percent chance. And that will just have to be good enough. Anything like a hundred percent is a fiction and the attempt is too dearly purchased.



soloha
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27 Jul 2017, 11:44 am

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
soloha wrote:
Forgiving but not forgetting seems perfectly logical to me.
All the same, it sets up a standard, with both aspects, that I can't possibly meet.

I'm a little lost now. So what do you do? Not forgive and then eventually forget? I'm sorry for not understanding.
AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
And as far as the 'not forgetting' part, it's like a health worry. With health worries, I had to give myself permission to potentially forget something which might be very important. So, with a person who has proved not very trustworthy, I mean, how much mental energy am I going to spend trying to hold this in my mind?

When you talk about holding it in your mind do you mean the grudge/revenge wish, or the memory of the incidents that cause you to mistrust them?
AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
Maybe the first time someone lets me down, 80+ percent chance that I shy away on this topic area and protect myself. If they let me down a second time, 95+ percent chance. And that will just have to be good enough. Anything like a hundred percent is a fiction and the attempt is too dearly purchased.

When you say you shy away to protect yourself it seems like you're referring to what I mean by not forgetting. When I talk about forgiveness I only mean I cease to hold ill will towards the offender. But I may not let them back in my life, I will "shy away" too. Like your percentages the more times a person hurts me the more likely I am to eventually just shut them out entirely. I still feel like I'm being obtuse and missing something :|



plainjain
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31 Jul 2017, 9:43 am

Thanks for the link, soloha. I took interest in a lot of the posts, there.

I guess that everyone views forgiveness, and even defines the terminology, a little differently. Maybe forgiveness should just be a fluid kind of a thing . . . the main goal being the healing of relationships and disputes if it's healthy for everyone, and less emphasis on the exact how, and when, and why.



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31 Jul 2017, 9:46 am

CuriousButDepressed, I forgot to say that it seems like maybe a bit of your childhood moral teachings stuck with you, even if you didn't realize where they came from to begin with.

I hope you have a nice day.



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31 Jul 2017, 11:57 am

If it's something big, I don't forgive - period. I cut people off if I'm better off without them or they do something I find unacceptable. Burning those bridges are good, I've never regretted a single one.
Life's too short as it is, so I prefer to spend my time and feelings on those who deserve it and the activities I enjoy.


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